


Elegy

by 30xf



Series: 201 Days Of X Files [94]
Category: The X-Files
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:55:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24211711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/30xf/pseuds/30xf
Series: 201 Days Of X Files [94]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/315719
Kudos: 7





	Elegy

Scully took a moment to towel dry her hair and fasten her robe tightly around her torso before she opened the bathroom door to the relative chill of her apartment. When she left the retirement home earlier, she'd intended to have the bath she had tried to have earlier when Mulder had showed up to summon her back there. But with everything that had happened, she just wanted to shower away the smell of age and impending death. She'd showered quickly, wanting to get to bed and try to sleep, by way of avoiding thinking about Harold Speuller. She could sleep with wet hair, despite her mother warning her against it her entire life for fear of catching pneumonia, but she had to re-bandage her hand before she could sleep.

Aware that sleep most likely wouldn't come easily for her, she headed for the kitchen to make a cup of tea. Her brain tried to recall if she'd turned off the table lamp in the living room earlier, just as she registered movement out of the corner of her eye. All at once, Mulder stood up from the couch and turned around. Scully gasped and recoiled, her hip hitting the table as her hand went to her chest. 

"Sorry," Mulder rushed over to her. "Shit, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He put a hand on her shoulder, waiting for her to look up.

"Jesus fucking christ," she whispered, still clutching her chest. 

"When I knocked, the door opened a little. I knocked again, but you didn't answer."

Scully took a deep breath and sighed it out. "I forgot to put the chain on. I keep forgetting to call the building manager about that. I think it's from when you kicked it open."

"You've been leaving your door open since then?" he asked, surprised. 

She frowned at him, "No, I've been using the other door." 

He nodded, still feeling guilty for invading her space then and now. He always forgets she has a second door. When he first started frequenting her apartment, it had baffled him. Now he didn't think twice about it. "Did you hurt your hip?" he asked, stepping back as she finally steadied herself.

Looking at her hand, she headed for the sink. "No, but I managed to split my hand open again," she sighed. She turned on the cold water and held her hand under it.

"Shit, I'm sorry." He went to stand beside her and flicked the switch for the light over the sink. "I thought they put a stitch in there."

"No, it wasn't that deep. Can you get the first aid kit out of the medicine cabinet please?"

Mulder hurried off without a word, and Scully took a moment to try and slow her racing heart rate. Sneaking into the apartment of someone who had recently seen an apparition of a dead woman seemed like exactly the kind of thing Mulder would do. She really should have expected it. "Got it," he needlessly told her as he set it beside her. 

"Thanks," she sighed. "What are you doing here, anyways?" she asked as she got to work.

He watched her, impressed with how efficiently she could clean and dress a wound with only one free hand. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay," he told her.

Scully knew what he meant. He wasn't talking about the case, and he wasn't talking about Nurse Ennis attacking her. He was talking about her cancer. She'd been lying to him for only a couple of weeks now, and she thought she'd been doing a good job of it. Right up until her nosebleed at the retirement home, Mulder seemed blissfully ignorant to her recent developments. As well he should, since she'd specifically lied to him about it. Her cancer had metastasized, but she wasn't ready to tell him that yet. He knew they were checking for that, but she'd told him nothing had changed. And he'd believed her, because he had no reason not to. But during this case, watching her deal with the first nosebleed he'd seen in a while, and seeing her struggle with the subject of death, his suspicions had been understandably aroused. He'd called her out--demanded gently to know what was going on, and she lied again. He said he'd hoped that was the truth. She wished it was. 

"I'm okay," she answered as she finished wrapping gauze around her hand. She managed to hold it tight and cut it with one hand, and then did the same with the medical tape. Once it was all in place, she put everything back in it's little box.

"How often have you been having nosebleeds?" Mulder asked quietly, watching her face for any signs of lying.

She shrugged, pursing her lips in a frown for a moment. "Not very often," she answered honestly. 

He watched her silently, waiting to see if she'd change her answer. When she didn't, he continued, "And everything checked out with your doctor?"

Scully set the first aid kit aside and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked Mulder right in the eye as she answered, "My doctor said nothing has changed since the last time I was there. My blood pressure is normal, and I had no other symptoms. It was just a nosebleed." In truth, none of that information was a lie. Except that they both knew the root cause of the nosebleed. 

He wanted to challenge her, but he could see how tired she was, and all the fight left him. If it was a movie, this would be the point where he would have kissed her. If for no other reason than to break the tension between them. And he did feel the urge to kiss her. Partly from the tension, yes; but also because of the way her pursed lips glistened with her saliva. And because of the way her pale skin looked tan against the stark white of her robe. And because of the way her gold cross dangled at her neck, drawing his eyes down to where her robe came together just above her breasts. Yes, if it were a movie, he'd definitely kiss her. And depending on the movie, she'd either kiss him back, or push him away and tell him to go home. But this wasn't a movie. And as he had done before, he ignored the urge to kiss her. "I guess I should probably let you get some sleep," he said, turning towards the door.

"I was going to make some tea...if you wanted to stay for that," she offered. 

Mulder considered it for a moment, but could literally see days of lost sleep in Scully's eyes. "Nah...thanks anyways. You really look like you should just hit the hay, Scully," he told her, hoping she didn't take it as an insult. She nodded, not appearing offended in any way. "Don't forget to lock this thingy," he rattled the chain before he opened the door. He was gone just in time to miss the tear running down her cheek.


End file.
